Romney reminisces about 'magnificent' French vacations

By Sarah Huisenga

April 23, 2012

ASTON, Pa. – Mitt Romney, who spent two years in France as a Mormon missionary, instead talked about vacationing in France when a French television reporter asked him about his best memories of the country.

“I have a lot of memories of France. I think the best memories were with my wife on vacations, from time to time in France,” the presumptive Republican presidential nominee said at a press conference here with Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. “The last vacation we had there, walking around the city of Paris, not just in the Champs-Elysees, but also over to the Jardin of Luxembourg and around the city, as one of the most magnificent cities in the world and I look forward to occasional vacations again in such a beautiful place.”

Romney just last week accused President Obama of “jetting around the world” and, asked by National Review about exorbitant spending by the General Services Administration that’s now under investigation, said Obama’s “elaborate vacations” set a bad example.

“I think the example starts at the top,” Romney said. “People have to see that the president is not taking elaborate vacations and spending in a way that is inconsistent with the state of the overall economy and the state of the American family.”

Throughout the campaign, Romney has repeatedly made remarks that underscore his wealth, from challenging Texas Gov. Rick Perry to a $10,000 bet during a debate, to dropping that his wife drives two Cadillacs, to mentioning in separate incidents that his friends own NASCAR and football teams.

His reminiscences of France produced a Twitter outpouring. “Sound of Republican heads hitting desks as Mitt riffs about his French vacations,” Politico’s Jonathan Martin said in a tweet that was retweeted dozens of times.